Choosing a Honey Locust Tree

Gleditsia triacanthos

Will the Best Thornless Honeylocust Tree Please Stand Up!

A honey locust tree comparison page to help you decide which variety will best suit your landscape design plans. The types being considered here are Shademaster, Thornless, Skyline and Sunburst honeylocust trees.

Hammond's Nature Atlas of America describes the honey locust as a tree in bristling armor because of the sharp thorns borne by the trunk and branches of the common species Gleditsia triacanthos.

These thorns, which can grow to be a foot long, make this otherwise handsome and useful tree unapproachable so thornless varieties were bred.

It is these types (one bearing the cultivar name 'Thornless') which we will be comparing here.

Why Plant a Honeylocust Tree At All?

The leaves of the honey locust tree are made up of gracefully arching stems with up to 28 bright green, oblong leaflets arranged in wing-like pairs on either side of them.

These leaves occur on tall, spreading trees to 75 feet high and wide at maturity.

This leaf arrangement on trees of this size casts a light, high shade. The honey locust tree can be used as a focal point in the center of a lawn as grass will happily grow beneath it. Most shade trees have the nasty habit of killing the grass beneath them by casting a shade too dense to allow for the growth of a healthy lawn.